FQ VII

After the feast in Dragonfell the party goes to sleep and they all have strange, and vivid dreams of some kind of mysterious tower. The next morning they discover that the town of Ulder has been completely razed to the ground. General Tyra mentions strange shadow like creatures in the city, who were impervious to weapon attacks and who devoured the townsfolk whole.

While trying to discover what might have happened, they speak with the Odd Mysterious merchant they have been dealing with and he tells them that the Tower of Fate is being prematurely opened by someone or something, and that that people are being transformed into Shadows, reflections of their negative selves. He offers to aid them in awakening the strength within them, their Personas, if they wish, but they will have to bear all their dark secrets for their friends to bare.

What comes of a village when their men are called to war?

After gathering supplies and resting in Helemborg, the party began their week long march to Hadur, a city located outside the Bladewood, where the foul hag Dybbak is known to lair.

Along their way they were told to bring Angus back to his druid’s grove. Driven mad by whatever spirit he released, the poor druid continued to babble nonsense about snakes, and serpents, and about how he was sorry and how the roots were being gnawed.

After arriving at the grove they met Angus’ brother, Seamus. Seamus thanked them for taking care of his brother, and after hearing of the foul had decided to journey along with them. Everyone stayed the night at the grove and then moved on towards Hadur.

As they approached the town they came upon a grisly sight. A frozen battlefield from last winter, the corpses of human and orc alike now finally emerging from the permafrost due to the thaw. Before they even had a chance to take hold of the scene, the bodies began to animate as draugr, corrupted by the blighted blood of the orcs.

The group trudges down to Hadur to find it in ruins. They slay a few orcs that seem to be searching for something and find a young girl there. She explains that a few months ago the orcs came and raided, killing mostly everyone. But she mentioned that some others managed to escape and she was just looking for food. The party left the town to take the girl back to their mountain valley respite.

There they met Baya, an old healer woman. She told them that the local Jarl ordered most of the able bodied men to his army to help in the upcoming civil war. Left undefended, orcs raided from the mountain caves, slaughtering mostly everyone. Baya managed to escape with a few dozen children, but they were running very low on food and supplies. Knowing the orc menace had to be dealt with, the party tracked the orcs back to their cave.

Though a difficult fight, the party was abel to clear the caves or orcs. They discovered that the orcs were drinking Orc Blood Wine, which gave them a raging brutality. And also that the wine seemed bear the same hag mark that was on the priest in Helemborg. The mark of Dybbak. It would seem that her reach lies farther then just pursuing her grand daughter.

A family saved, but a new evil found

Gathered together by unconventional circumstances, Gygax, Nel, Suyag and Morgana find themselves in the town of Helemborg. Apparently cursed by an evil child, the people ask for the assistance of the wary group of adventurers. To stop the child and prevent the rise of the draugr that curse their town.

it is soon found out that the child, Halera, is a half elf, her father being a troll. The town is cursed by her wicked grandmother, a hag by the name of Dybbik, and only Halera has the ability to weaken her curse.

The party soon finds a strange ritual underneath the church of the Allfather. Angus unwittingly releases whatever evil was sealed within and falls unconscious, after he tries to attack his comrades. Night has fallen and as the group returns to the town they feel a powerful evil from the blighted corn fields.

Heading to the city they confront the mayor of the town and the local priest, telling them all they know. The priest seems unwilling to believe any of this, still throwing blame at the Half elf and her mother. But as the party’s suspicions grow, a commotion is heard from outside. What they see is a gruesome sight.

Children wander the streets, attacking and murdering their parents. They carry bloody knives and farm implements off into the corn fields, in a daze like state. Everyone can feel a strong fearful presence around them, and ignoring the priest for now they head into the fields to deal with whatever is drawing out the children of Helemborg.

The pressence in the field grows stronger, and the group soon finds themselves separated in the thick fields. Suyag finds himself attacked by a scarecrow, posessed by whatever pressence had emerged from the church. Snakes pour from its eyes and it claws viciously at everyone before it is finally felled. The evil escapes from it and tries to assault them directly but is destroyed when it hits a barrier in front of them. behind them was Halera, holding her father’s skull. Whatever evil was controlling the children has been defeated. For now.

The next morning, the town is being stirred up into a mob. The hunter, Jorgen, aided by the priest are in the town square, calling for the burning of the halera and her mother. They claim that they are the reason for the blight and the evil, and that the party themsleves should not be trusted. Luckily, Morgana is able to throw up some strong arguments for them, and the crowd soon loses its blood lust. The mayor agrees, asking for them to find Dramira and bring her here to talk peacefully. To find out the truth about the hag.

The party notices both the priest and the hunter sneak off, defeated. They decide to follow them to find out as much they can. Suyag follows Jorgen, the hunter, but finds that he just returns to his forest home, dejected.

But as Nel and Gygax follow the priest, they find something much more dire. They find him sneak into the church and begin to cast some dark ritual, using his own blood, reading from an ancient book. They manage to sneak in and distract him, stealing the book and fleeing.

After returning to town Morgana recognizes the book as being written in troll, and being hag blood magic. They immediately chase after the priest and kill him, after he attacks them, spraying his on blood on Morgana.

The mayor looks over all this information, and after speaking with Dramira agrees to offer her his protection. He apologizes for what his priest has done and asks for the group to look into Dybbik and defeat her once and for all.